


Mercenary Queen

by mecomptane



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Assassin's Creed Odyssey rewrite, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, F/F, F/M, M/M, Spoilers, ac odyssey elements are mostly ancient, also there were two (2!) battles of amphipolis, but does not follow FoA canon, but the story is set in ancient greece, eh does that count as spoilers?, follows Legacy of the First Blade DLC, follows Odyssey, give Brasidas the credit he deserves, khr elements are mostly modern, modern day prelude, mostly - Freeform, odyssey is great but it could be better, probably, takes inspiration from Fate of Atlantis DLC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 20:41:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20395840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mecomptane/pseuds/mecomptane
Summary: Legend says the first Mercenary Queen reigned during the Peloponnesian War; myth says another was the power broker during Europe's Dark Ages; rumour says the most recent takes contracts exclusively from one, single individual. Kassandra remembers all of it and more, could regale listeners with endless epics and sumptuous stories. At the beginning she was a simple misthios from Kephalonia with an eagle and a broken spear and no greater ambition than to find whatever was left of her family--but then she met a foreign traveler.





	Mercenary Queen

**Author's Note:**

> Because so much of this is set in the framework of Odyssey (save the Layla elements... for now), you don't need to know much because that part will be addressed. As for KHR, there's not a lot you need to know except that Tsuna is the future boss of the most powerful Mafia, and spends most of KHR actively trying Not To Be A Boss, except for when he needs to. Which is often. Because people hear about him and think, "A foreigner who doesn't know how the underworld works but will shortly be one of the most powerful people in the world? I can get on his good side/manipulate him/kill him because Vongola is obviously weak and this will make them weaker/he's a Sky." And as for him being a Sky, most of that will also be explained.
> 
> And sometimes, Tsuna is on (literal) fire. Or casting things in ice. It depends.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the waiters at the outdoor cafe struggled to hear orders over the crowds and the merchants calling out their one-day-only sales. Technically Saturday classes were still happening (and would be, for another few hours yet) but Sawada's group had long ago set a precedent for only showing up to school when they felt like. Rei was only off because of an appointment, and instead of making the trip back to school had gotten permission to skive off afterwards. To do homework, of course, she was a responsible student, but if she was working on it at her favourite open-air cafe instead of in her room at home it was strictly because the trip home would be much longer than the trip back to school.

It had been quiet when she first arrived, most adults still shopping the morning sales further down the main street, but as time passed the tables became more crowded. Twice now someone had joined Rei at her table, took some time to quietly sip their drinks and munch their snacks, and then had continued on, barely a word said between them. With the warm sun and cool breeze, Rei couldn't imagine a better day.

Her current table mate was a foreign woman, tree-dappled sunlight glinting off the bronzed skin of a scarred nose and brown hair tied in a loose braid draped over one shoulder. A cup of tea sat beside a small pastry, the latter of which was barely touched. Rei hadn't paid much attention to her when she first sat down, thinking she'd eat and leave like the others, but the woman had spent the last half an hour people watching and nibbling her pastry. A waiter had been summoned four times in the last twenty minutes to refill the cup of tea, but Rei could hardly blame her. The cafe was known for their drinks, after all.

"So," the woman addressed her, finally noticing Rei's blatant staring. "You don't get many foreigners here, do you?"

Except she spoke with barely a hint of an accent, which aside from 'existent' Rei couldn't place. "Well... there are a few, but the same people come back instead of new people."

The woman hummed, taking another sip of tea. "I'm still a new face then, huh?"

Rei didn't know how to reply and so went back to her homework. And aside from a single, "X is equal to plus/minus 8, there," the woman let her.

And then Sawada showed up.

Not Sawada-and-his-group, because if that was the case Rei would have packed up and been back home faster than Yamamoto could hit a baseball, but Sawada by himself. Which was also notable, in the sense that Rei couldn't remember that happening in the entirety of their high school career. Apparently Sawada had been something of a loner--or more accurately, a social pariah--at the beginning of middle school, but somewhere along the lines he not only made friends, but managed for those friends to be terrifying and terrifyingly loyal. Obsessive, even. Rei was quietly of the opinion that there was some kind of a cult going on, but she--like most of the student body who didn't actually attend Namichuu and so didn't quite have all the history--preferred to stay away whenever possible. Cult or no cult, she wasn't getting involved.

But there was Sawada, having somehow ditched his entourage, dressed in surprisingly formal clothes (Rei had only occasion to see him out of uniform a handful of times, and his normal clothing seemed to consist of comfortable trousers and hoodies). Button down shirt, vest, slacks, dress shoes... almost like he was on a date. Or a job interview, perhaps. He wandered inside the cafe, and Rei was content to let that be the end of that. (Sawada skipping class, after all, was nothing unusual.)

Then he was outside again, receipt in hand, and clearly looking for a table. Rei turned back to her homework again, determined now to ignore her classmate, but the woman across from her mused, "He needs a seat," and then waved Sawada over.

Rei cursed, and started to pack up her books. "Here," she informed the woman, "he can sit here."

"Oh, sit down," the woman retorted, "You still haven't finished your homework or your drink. There's enough space."

Not nearly enough for Rei's comfort zone, but Sawada was already there, and the woman had snagged a chair from an already crowded table nearby, and then he was settling down between them with a grateful sigh.

"Thank you," he murmured, pinning his receipt to the table using the dish of sugar packets. "I--oh! Tachibana-san, I didn't see you there." He frowned then, checked his cellphone. "Is school already out?"

Rei bit back the, "Of course you don't know when school starts and ends, you're never there," and instead managed a quiet, "I had an appointment this morning."

"Oh," Sawada breathed, "Sorry for prying."

Rei shrugged, giving up the pretense of packing up and starting on the maths homework again. A waiter wandered by with a pot of green tea, and both Rei and the woman signaled for refills. While Rei worked and the woman people watched, Sawada sighed and leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes and clearly enjoying the day. From the corner of her eye Rei could see his shoulders loosening, his posture slowly slumping into something more relaxed but also... tried. He looked like he could fall asleep at the table, Rei realized.

But, no, not her business.

The woman had no such compunctions. "Busy day?"

Sawada snorted, opening one eye to look at his table mates. "Kind of? Crazy tutors."

She hummed, lifting her pastry to nibble at the edge. "Take a vacation."

"What? And face the consequences for skipping everything? No thanks."

"For a day, then."

"That's what I'm trying to do."

Which explained why he was by himself, no entourage or sort-of stalkers to be seen. Rei shook her head, finding herself almost sympathetic.

Another waiter came by then, with a small white mug and dark liquid that smelled distinctly like coffee, and a... bowl of soup? Well, it was almost lunch. Maybe she should order something more substantial, too.

"Thanks," Sawada said with a forced smile. He went for the coffee first, made a face, and proceeded to rip open and dump half the sugar packets on the table into his mug.

The woman smirked. "Not to your taste, then?"

"I'm trying," Sawada groused. "Real men drink black coffee my--"

"Now now, you're in the presence of ladies," the woman cut him off, "Please watch your language."

"That's not part of my training until at least next year," and he really did sound relieved about that. Though, what kind of training was he undergoing? Rei tapped her pencil against her notebook, grateful that she had her texts out and could pretend ignorance of the conversation.

"Step it up, then."

"Uh, no thanks."

"Well-"

"SAWADA!!!"

Sawada instantly ducked--no, it could only be described as dove--under the table, the woman needing to reach out to steady his nearly overturned chair. Rei just stared at him as Sasagawa Ryohei ran down the main street, scanning the cafe tables quickly before yelling, "EXTREME HIDE AND SEEK!" and continuing on.

Instead of reemerging, Sawada poked his head above the table, smiled sheepishly at them, and then grabbed coffee and soup and ducked back underneath. Rei and the woman shared an equally exasperated and bemused glance, before Rei lent sideways to get a good luck at her classmate. Who was sitting on the pavement, legs crisscrossed, coffee balanced on one knee and soup on the other. "Sawada, what are you doing."

"Hiding," he admitted sheepishly. "I, uh... really need a day to myself."

"Uh...huh," but Rei could see that. She needed some downtime too, especially with two very loud, very present siblings. So she went back to ignoring him, focusing on her homework as the woman returned to people watching and politely chugging tea and Sawada continued to hide.

Which worked out well for him, as after Sasagawa the elder came Sasagawa the younger, and Yamamoto, and Gokudera, the Midori girl that hung around, and Kurokawa, and--

Yeah, it looked like Sawada really had run away from his usual troupe. "Your life that busy, Sawada?" Rei asked out of the corner of her mouth, arranging her textbook so it was standing on the table in better light... and conveniently hiding her face. And any speaking she might be doing.

The woman glanced up, shot her an amused glance, and looked back out to the crowd. "Subtle."

Sawada snorted, ducking further under the table as he cuddled coffee and soup to his chest. "I love my family, but...."

"They're crazy?" Rei finished for him.

She couldn't see his reaction as she'd returned to her books, but the woman chuckled and titled her cup of tea towards her. "They certainly sound it."

"They're not that bad," he refuted, "Just, er... enthusiastic."

"Obsessive," Rei interjected.

The sound Sawada made was almost a groan, or a muttered complaint, or something, but the woman was laughing loud enough to drown out the quieter sounds of their environment. Not quite enough to mask the merchants and shoppers further down the street, but the patrons at the surrounding tables were quick to glance up and then away at the sudden noise. "Well, it certainly sounds like you've been busy," she chuckled, and shifted, and based on Sawada's sudden yelp had probably kicked, or at least nudged, their hiding table mate.

After a quick glance to make sure he was okay (the coffee was apparently finished, but the soup hadn't been--thankfully it was mostly clear and Sawada's trousers were dark coloured), Rei looked up at the woman again. "Busy? What do you mean?"

The woman shrugged, sitting back casually in her chair. Now that Rei was really looking, she could pick out more distinctive traits than bronzed skin and scarred nose and braided hair. Threaded through her hair were small golden beads, a few forming a loose tiara around the crown of her head. A golden pendant hung on a thin chain, looking almost like a caduceus. A loose white very short-sleeved blouse with a bateau neckline showed off both collar bones and her rather impressively muscled arms, and while Rei couldn't exactly determine if the woman was wearing a skirt, very loose slacks or an actual dress, her quick glances under the table had revealed glimpses of toned, equally strong legs. The gladiator sandals didn't quite match the elegance of the woman's upper body, especially the golden bangles on both arms, but they certainly didn't take away from the outfit, either.

And to finish it all off were brown eyes, staring at Rei with an amused glint. Brown, except when they flashed amber-golden in the sunlight.

"It's been a while since I've seen him," the woman answered, rolling one shoulder back. "And he didn't even come meet me at the airport."

"I saw you two weeks ago," Sawada groused, sticking his head over the table to place the empty coffee cup and now-empty soup bowl down. He grabbed a handful of napkins before hiding again. "And what happened last time? Torrential storms. Pirates. Marauders. Pretty sure there were a couple hitmen and assassins there, too, because that's always fun. I even got seasick! I haven't gotten seasick since--er, since the Shark, I think?"

The woman bent over to look at Sawada, once again hidden under the table. "What about the Tempest?"

"Can we not?"

"We are."

"There was fire!"

"Exactly, you were in your element."

"Not on a _burning ship_\--"

"I'm sorry," Rei interrupted, closing her book and doing her best to pin both the woman and Sawada with a look. "You two know each other already? You're not strangers?"

The woman continued to smile, though it was definitely amused now... and probably at Rei's expense instead of Sawada's. "You could say that."

Sawada reemerged, taking his seat and gingerly patting the side and knees of his trousers with the napkins. "Yeah, uh, sorry. Tachibana-san, I should probably introduce you. Aunt Kass, this is Tachibana Rei-san, my classmate from highschool. Tachibana-san," and here he flourished his hand towards the woman, bowing exaggeratedly over the table, "may I present my Aunt, Lady Kassandra, Daughter of the Agiad, Commander of the Adrestia."

The woman--Kassandra A-something that Rei couldn't pronounce even in her thoughts, let alone aloud--reached out to whap Sawada on the hand. "Stop that. Tachibana-san, just call me Kassandra. Or misthios."

"Don't call her misthios," Sawada warned. "She'll forget where she is."

"I won't."

Rei looked between them slowly, seeing some movement in her peripheral vision but ignoring the incoming waiter. "What is... what does misthios mean?" She stumbled over the pronunciation, but it wasn't nearly as bad as whatever Kassandra's family name was. And Rei knew enough foreigners and foreign names to tell the given from the family. Half of Sawada's group and 'family' were foreigners, not to mention the few that had moved to Namimori through the years. Or the ones who visited every few months.

(Kassandra being Sawada's aunt wasn't any degree of surprising, not given the wide variety of people he called 'family' and the blonde man who had occasionally subbed in as their English teacher being Sawada's apparent brother.)

Kassandra leaned back in her chair, and it was only then that Rei noticed her fiddling with the bangles on her wrist. Specifically, the leather bracer and small throwing knife hidden under them. "Why Tachibana-san," Kassandra purred, shooting a quelling glance in Sawada's spluttering direction. "I'm the Mercenary Queen."

**Author's Note:**

> As mentioned in the tags, the only parts of this story set in the modern world are the prologue and the epilogue. The rest is all Assassin's Creed Odyssey, because I love it dearly but there are so many things I want to either correct (Amphipolis! Among other things), or want to expand upon using a combination of research and headcanon (also, sort of, Amphipolis). I'm already about ten chapters ahead, but I've taken a 'slow but steady' stance to writing lately and I want to maintain something of a buffer, so I can't promise an update schedule.


End file.
